In July, anti-voter group America First Legal Foundation (AFL) submitted a petition for rulemaking to the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), requesting the EAC amend the federal voter registration form to require Americans to show a passport or other citizenship documents when registering to vote. These show-your-papers requirements create unnecessary barriers that are particularly hard on students, among other communities. Fair Elections Center is submitting this comment to oppose adding barriers to voter registration. As expressed in our comment, Elections Assistance Commission (EAC) should not—and cannot—make the changes to the national mail voter registration form to add a show your papers proof requirement to register to vote as requested in the Petition for Rulemaking submitted by America First Legal. Such changes would violate federal laws. Specifically, adopting a DPOC requirement would plainly contradict prior EAC decisions, as well as responses to prior requests from states to add a DPOC requirement to their state instructions on the Federal Form. EAC declined to establish documentary proof requirements for naturalization and citizenship respectively because it was not necessary to validate the eligibility of an applicant and would not serve any additional election security purpose than a citizenship attestation requirement alone. Critically, the EAC should decline to add this requirement now because it will disenfranchise many of the millions of otherwise eligible voters in the United States who lack access to DPOC.
